Random Access

< groove>

• David Bowie – Modern Love
• Prince – Starfish and Coffee
• Jonni Lightfoot – WindowSill

< /groove>

What’s on your playlist today…?

Monday – 21 May 2007
Another week begins.   A short week, although I’m not sure how short it will be:  The Temple of Sweden opens on Wednesday and I think that I want to be one of the early morning teeming masses.  If that’s the case and I wind up taking the day off, I may work a full 8 – 10 on Friday.  We shall see.
Yesterday was very lax.  Uber lax.  Lax-tastic.  I went for a drive up through Parley’s and Emigration Canyons; I hadn’t done that in a while.  I capped it with a trip to Jitterbug.  I headed home and made an amazing discovery:

As a Green Lantern in training, I’m pretty familiar with the uses of willpower.  With proper focus, you can use it to create pretty much anything.  (Yeah, there’s a good reason that they call GL rings “the most powerful weapon in the universe.”)  For the past few months, I had taken it for granted that the items around my keyboard and monitors were being held up through force of willpower alone.

I was mistaken.

There was actually a desk under the accumulated debris.  The desk is still there; the debris is not.

The Scales of Justice
The Hand of Nefer-Tem spent some time in Paragon City.  The person leading the team decided to run one of my missions.  Great!  The more, the merrier.  Apparently, I should have said: “The more, the deadlier,” because we got our collective recta kicked.  A lot.  So much so that the team abandoned the mission and disbanded.  Oh, well.  I led a small group on the same mission a little later.  Yes, we died a few times… but we cleared the mission.  Now, I just need to clear that 13K of XP debt…

Stray Toasters

• I have Goldfish.  Both pretzel and cheddar.
• The Reverend Al Sharpton is in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain today, meeting with members of the LDS Church – trying to (re)build some bridges after a few… less-than-thoughtful… remarks he made over the past few weeks.

  I think that they should have him meet with members of the clergy and the laiety.  And my top pick for the secular member for him to talk with: Gladys Knight.

• I wasn’t sure if there would be one, but I was glad to see that Wikipedia does have an entry for “…said the Actress to the Bishop.“
• …and then, there’s always the Brian Bolland poster.
• galilieo’s head was on the block
  the crime was looking up the truth
  as the bombshells of my daily fears explode
  i try to trace them to my youth

  then you had to bring up reincarnation
  over a couple of beers the other night
  now i’m serving time for mistakes
  made by another in another lifetime

• Poang
• Duran Duran White Lines
• :  Thanks!  That made me smile.
• …which reminds me:  While having a comics-related conversation with Tyranist and Jason earlier, Tyranist said “Stop…” to which I replied “Hammertime!”  And then, a horrible image passed through my head:  Thor, swinging Mjolnir, doing Hammer’s “Chinese Typewriter” dance.
• 
• NOTE TO SELF: Northern Strike
• Topsy-turvy Bus

Back to it.

Namaste.

A few things that crossed my path in the past few hours:

• posted a link to the new Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix trailer.
• Four-year-old drummer
• A retcon of Of Mice & Men… with Superman and Bizarro.  (watch the entire clip, even after the credits)

And with that, I’m ghost.

Wednesday – 16 May 2007
Yesterday was good. It started early – and in the SLC office, at least for a few minutes. The workday was fairly quiet and monkey-free. Selah. Eric and I decided to do some heavy sets for the bench press portion of today’s workout. I did 225 lbs. (dropped to 185, to finish the set), 200, 200. I was rather pleased. (Yes, it’s three months past when I wanted to be able to do it… but I did reach the goal.) I want to get at least two sets of 200 lbs. in each workout… preferrably, starting from this point. We’ll see how that goes.

Last night was D&D night. We learned some important things pertaining to our current… quest… to prevent a new god from rising to power. Fun for us. And, most importantly, we neither died nor killed each other. That’s something positive!

Stray Toasters

• I finally got around to scanning my latest “lyric-to-pencil” drawing: Presto
• By way of : Hue & Cry (or what I like to call: “That sofa is WHAT color?!”)
• The Next Fad: Old Game Music on iTunes
• Tyranist pointed out Marvel’s site for the upcoming Doctor Strange video.
• 
• Heather Jansch: Life-size Driftwood Sculpture
• Women in Comics’ Special Outrage of the Week Edition – The issue: the upcoming Mary Jane Watson statue
• 
• Pictorial History of Vidgame Consoles
• Tyranist: Pan’s Labyrinth is back at the Broadway.
• Do we really need a Shrek “holiday TV show?”

And now to finish getting ready for – and on the way to – work.

Namaste.

< chair dance break>

• Rockapella – Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
• A3 – Woke Up This Morning
• Craig David – What’s Your Flava?
• Rush – Malignant Narcissism
• Robbie Williams – Feel

< /chair dance break>

How are you getting your groove on this morning?

Groove on, brothers and sisters…. groove on.
*genuflect*
His Chocolate Holiness.

Monday – 14 May 2007
To borrow a line from The Pretenders, “I’m back on the chain gang…”  So far, it’s been a rather quiet day.  I put that under the heading of “Good things.”  Especially for a Monday.

One of my coworkers read yesterday’s post and asked me a question about IMPACT.  I told him what little I knew about it… and he filled in the gaps.  Unglaublich! I was not expecting to come to work and get a little lesson in all things IMPACT, but I did.  Wow.  Check it out for yourself.

The Scales of Justice
Yesterday, The Hand of Nefer-Tem spent a few hours patrolling the streets – and a few islands – in Paragon City.  I got in with a pretty decent team… but our mortality rate was a little high, as we couldn’t find any empathic Defenders or Controllers.  But we marched on.  And on.  And on.  On series of missions that we did continued another branch of the missing Kheldians story arc that I’ve been playing.  This branch deals with a couple of villain groups who are developing weapons designed specifically for use against Peacebringers and Warshades.  Wonderful.

Somewhere, amidst all of the fighting – and dying – I managed to hit Security Level 26.

And, I came up with a couple of handy-dandy Nefer-Tem icons… but I need to decide which one I want to use:

  

Stray Toasters

• There are a few productions, opera and ballet, coming to Capitol Theatre that I want to see.
• “Youre lucky, I happened to be at the rib joint across the street…”
• I dedicate this song to .   He knows why.
• Health Education: Stress, Depression, Anxiety, Drug Use
• 
• From DrugDigest: Check potential interactions between two or more drugs
• Tyranist: Click here.

Hey, look!  The Interweb’s back!

Namaste.

Sunday – 13 May 2007
Happy Mother’s Day.

I called the maternal units (biological and step) this morning… and got both. That’s right, I was up at 7:00 to make sure that I could catch them. Both are doing well. Then I went back to sleep. Selah.

Last night, before heading to breakfast, I decided to test Usenet’s retention and see if I could find “Man of Tomorrow,” the pilot episode of Legion of Super Heroes. Not only did I find it, but I was able to grab it. Then I watched it. It was a very good episode. They tweaked a few things from the original Superboy meets the Legion story, but it was close enough for jazz as far as I was concerned. And, it did something that the original story didn’t do: Clark knew about his powers and was able to use some of them… but not very well. This played out a few times during the episode. And, this was also the episode in which the Fatal Five was introduced, which made having them in “Sundown” even more fulfulling, as it brought them full circle.

Breakfast was… interesting. IMPACT was there. In full force. With reinforcements. They had to take up at least 80% of the available seats in the place. I think that was a first. They’re an odd group, but they make for interesting people-watching. “Interesting” in a weird and occasionally creepy way. made a QotD-worthy comment that I can’t remember. *sigh* But, I do remember that she won a purple, hat-wearing dog from the claw machine.

I have no idea what I’m doing with the rest of my day. But, I have a cup of hot caffeinated goodness, so I’m sure that things will fall into place. Or something.

Stray Toasters

• I have an… eclectic… assortment of videos in my YouTube favorites. I’m still a little saddened by the fact that Code Monkey: SGA isn’t there anymore, though.
• There are a lot of Mom/Mama/Mother songs out there.
• What happens to people when they get old?
• Not that I have any idea where I’d put it, but I think that I want an electronic keyboard. Musical, that is.
• Conversations with are usually amusing. This morning’s was no exception:

[10:05] asdf_cat: you and wil wheaton are really freaking me out lately.
[10:05] shadorunr: Happy Mother’s Day!
[10:05] asdf_cat: heh
[10:05] shadorunr: I mean… ‘Good morning’
[10:05] shadorunr: He’s stalking me.
[10:05] shadorunr: 🙂
[10:06] asdf_cat: i read your legion of superheroes bit and then the next entry down is this one – http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2007/05/we_are_the_legi.html
[10:09] shadorunr: See! Stalking me!
[10:09] asdf_cat: technically i think his was posted a day before yours. 🙂
[10:09] shadorunr: That’s not the point.
[10:12] asdf_cat: hmm. i’ve never seen you and he together in the same place.
[10:12] asdf_cat: YOU ARE WIL WHEATON!
[10:13] shadorunr: Shit.
[10:14] shadorunr: *calls in the Mnemonic Deletion Unit*
[10:14] shadorunr: I’m sorry.
[10:14] shadorunr: This is for your own good.

• I’m willing to bet that Scotty still doesn’t know. (mp3)
• Doghouse (for/because of )
• I’m still digging Multiplicity.
• 
• Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow.
  Cornershop said so.
  And, here is a breakdown of what the song means.
• 
• Tony Stark’s House of Ribs

Namaste.

Friday – 11 May 2007
End. Of. The. Week.

Last night, post-work, was good.  And quiet.  CSI: Spaghetti.  And a lot of not much else… although, I did go out for a late night mocha.  I found it rather amusing that, by the time I got back home, I was about ready to hit the rack… and did… and didn’t have any issues falling asleep.

And, on top of all that: I was up before the alarm went off this morning.  Go figure.

So far, the day’s been good.  I’m still stuck as to what’s hanging up this problem system.  But, I’ll either fix it… or drop kick it.  Into Utah Lake.

And, tonight: Clitorati.

Stray Toasters

• I have made a horrible – yet terribly amusing – discovery:  The Crüxshadows’ Earthfall is just slightly more uptempo than Prince’s When Doves Cry… but with a little tweaking, they blend in a decent way.  I have been driving around listening to Earthfall and singing Doves over it.  And laughing a lot.
• That led me to another discovery: Pacemaker, a WinAmp plugin that lets you modify the tempo, pitch and speed of an mp3… on the fly.
• For the record: When Doves Cry has to be sped up 3% to work.  It’s still not perfect… but it’s not bad.
• showed me a link to a site called Jewcy.
• Damn Pepperdge Farm for making their Pretzel Goldfish so damned tasty!
• Steampunky assemblage clock
• You know who you are…
  
• Derek watched American History X last night.  His training is proceeding nicely.
• HOWTO make a Carbonite Han Solo chocolate bar
• 
• Next time someone tells you to “Shove a cork in it,” show them this.
• Who can turn the stove on with her smile?
  Who can take a bubblebath
  And suddenly fill it with crocodiles?
  ‘Cause it’s you, Dot, and you should know it
  Put nitro on a bridge go ahead and blow it
  Mud is all around, I guess it’s Spring
  Name another crooner, other than Bing
  Don’t throw your hat up in the air
  Cause what might land is a Frigidaire!
  Dot!
• I found a link to this The Horrible Pirates webcomic… and the last panel reminded me of this.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 May 2007
Aside from today being travel day, it’s got another ever-so-slightly more important meaning: It’s my stepmother, Sib3 and Max’ birthday.  I called the family unit – talked with both – and left a message with Max’ parents.  So, all bases covered.
I didn’t manage to catch my old teachers, but I did run a few errands, so the morning hasn’t been a complete wash.

We’re leaving for the airport in a little bit and then I’ll be chasing the sun.  I’ve had a great time and wish I didn’t have to leave so soon.  It was good to see family and friends and get a chance to hang out with them.

Stray Toasters

• I’m not sure why, but I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On was running through my head this morning.  While I like the Robert Palmer version, it was still missing something from the Cherrelle version from the mid 80s: A breakdancing King Kong.  I think that’s what Peter Jackson was missing from his version of King Kong, too – Kong gettin’ it on the good foot.
• Alter Ego: Portraits of players and their avatars
• Generally speaking, I don’t drink soda… unless it’s part of a mixed drink.  For Cheerwine, however, I am willing to make an exception.  This and – if I could find it – Birch Beer, from a soda company back in Maryland.
• Microwave popcorn is the new asbestos

Hello, I must be going.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 May 2007
Down to the hours now.

Someone asked if it’s hard being at work, knowing that I’m going to be on the Right Coast tomorrow morning.  Nope.  It’s not.  “SSDD,” as my father would say.  Just another day in Paradise… this is the Land of Zion, after all.

Yesterday ended quietly.  Me, sitting at home… avoiding packing through modern technology.  That’s right, boys and girls: City of Heroes.  More importantly, Issue 9: Breakthrough went live yesterday.  There are now crafting skills and auction houses in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.  So, the Hand of Nefer-Tem went to the University to learn about making new toys.  I still need to take Corvus Nox and Indi through the course, but that will wait until next week.

After leaving Paragon City, I decided to distract myself with a little poker.  That was a joke.  My game was off.  Way off.  Far enough off to be measured in astronomical units.  It wasn’t pretty.  Fortunately, the Fates decided to stop using me as their whipping boy and show me a little favor.  Things turned around.  Quickly.  I decided to stop while I was ahead.

Then, I packed.  Zaz!

I also wound up at The Clone’s V.I. last night.  This time, she was there.  It took her a moment to recognize/remember who I was – you could almost see the disk access light blinking.

Stray Toasters

• I had I Don’t Need Anything But You, from Annie, running through my head a little while ago.  I don’t know why.
• News about Jon Favreau’s upcoming Iron Man movie here and first look at the official site here.
• Redirect your animal instincts with a French letter
• From boingboing.net – Petition to restore habeas corpus
• 
• Design a Counterstrike mod, get expelled from school
• So, maybe he wasn’t quite as tarnished as we were led to believe: A look at the upcoming Booster Gold series from Wizard.
• Cover art from 52: Week Fifty-Two… which makes a nice bookend piece with the art from 52: Week One
• For , and – Faces of Guitar Heroes

Namaste.

…oh, never mind.

Just click.

• Item One
• Item Two

Tuesday – 01 May 2007
Last night’s D&D game set many wheels in motion.  We finally remembered to ask some of the important questions that we had neglected.  We also made some decent in-roads to accomplishing some of the major campaign items that have been looming over our heads for months.  And, we didn’t get eaten by a dragon.

Stray Toasters

• Note to Self: Call Bret.  Today.
• Justice League: Countdown – an animated parody of DC’s Identity Crisis
• Since won’t play along when I say “Mahna Mahna…”
• Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish
  Quarter Pounder, French fries
  Icy Coke, thick shakes
  Sundaes and apple pies!
• Dell wil pre-install Ubuntu Linux
• 
• Steampunk Mouse
• The Refreshments – Banditos
• Wizkids is showing more of the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes HeroClix set.  They’re going with the v5 Legion, to boot!
• – Catwoman Vinyl Statue
• Date Night – Nightwing and Batgirl, by way of the Comics2Film DCG
• Tyranist, this one is a fastball down the plate for you: Three screams for these stars
• USPS Star Wars Stamp Pre-Orders

Namaste.

Monday – 30 May 2007
And so, another week begins.

Fortunately, it’s a short week… and a week that will end with me on the Right Coast – Kris (Sib3) graduates from law school this weekend.  Of course, that also means that it will be a busy weekend.  Oh, well… no rest for the wicked.

Yesterday, I made it to the second game of Patryck’s double-header.  The umpire was ludicrously inconsistent with his calls – one pitch would be a ball; another, in the same spot would be a strike.  It wasn’t pretty.  But, Patryck’s team won, so I guess that’s all that really matters in the long run.  After that, I stopped in to see and Matt.  Enchiladas!  Homemade enchiladas, at that!  TASTY homemade enchiladas, even.  Then, home to take care of a few things… including making a mess of my kitchen, because it’s much better to pour rice all over the stove and floor than into the pot of near-boiling broth.  *sigh*

Stray Toasters

• I just caught myself humming the theme to Spider-Man.  The 60’s cartoon theme, that is.
• The Spidey saga suits Sam Raimi
• I’m still taking suggestions for the next lyrics-to-drawing and webcomic I should be reading.
• How the Internet took over
  (“Skynet is now online…”)
• Tyranist is/was right: There are no more – or at least very few – big surprises in comics anymore.  Publishers just seem to give away the big reveals… sometimes, even before the series is released.  Although, I will admit that DC has done a good job of leaving some mysteries in 52.
• Pro-coffee tee tweaks Mormon Church, Church responds with trademark threat
• I unintentionally started a mini-flame war yesterday.
  …and then fiddled while Rome burned.
• One more day until Snakes & Arrows is released.  Officially.
• The Black Crowes – Sometimes Salvation
• I am actually starting to look forward to Jon Favreau’s Iron Man.  Weird.
• I am looking forward to Spider-Man 3 and FF2.
• Other Heroes: African-American comics creators, characters and archetypes

Namaste.

Sunday – 29 April 2007
Coffee…? Check.
Honey Bunches of Oats…? Check.
Interweb connection…? Check.

Let’s get this thing moving, then.

So far, it’s been a quiet morning. I’ve been up a little longer than I would have expected – since a little before 9 AM. Yet, miraculously, I haven’t done much. Oh, sure, I have observed the rituals d’hygiene and made a pot of coffee, but other than that…? Bupkis. And I’m okay with that.

I’ll be getting out of here shortly to check out Patryck’s team play some baseball. That will get me out in the sunshine for a while. Gotta work on getting a good base for my tan, after all. Beyond that, I’m not sure what kind of trouble I’m going to get into. But I’m pretty sure that I can find something.

Stray Toasters

• For the first time in a LONG while, I actually went top-to-bottom through the list of webcomics in my bookmarks… and read them all. I need to eighty-six Megatokyo, I think. I haven’t read it with any regularity in at least six months. On the converse, I need to go back and fill in the gaps in my The Gods of Ar-Kelaan reading. The Tao of Geek? Hit or miss.If anyone has a suggestion of a good webcomic that I should check out, please let me know.
• From the City Paper: Social Studies: “Ho Down” and The Cool of Birth
• May the Farce Be With You – a look at the upcoming Robot Chicken/George Lucas collaboration
• Silly song? Yeah… maybe.
  Silly video? Yeah.
  But, damn and a half if I still don’t like Walk the Dinosaur. It makes me bum wiggle.
• OldSuperstitions.com – The Largest List of Superstitions on the Web
• By way of The Guardian Unlimited: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
• Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is coming to Salt Lake City in June. Details here.
• To seek the sacred river Alph
  To walk the caves of ice
  To break my fast on honeydew
  And drink the milk of Paradise…
• Steampunk guitar
• From the “Things that make you go ‘Hmmm’ ” file: Satan responsible for illegal immigration, saysUtah delegate

Out-of-Context Quote of the Day

: You don’t need lube for grab-ass.

Namaste.

This post is going to be full of comic-related items – and a few other things – so, if that’s not your particular cup of tea, roll on.

• Two words: The Brood.
  Five more words: “I think I covet this.”
  Additionally, Tyranist thinks that X-Men 4: The Brood would be a good idea.  I agree… as long as they don’t let Brett Ratner helm it.  When I asked him who should direct, he said, “[Bryan] Singer.”  When I mentioned that I thought that Mr. Singer’s plate is a little full at the moment, he suggested Joss Whedon.
• For and Tyranist: Zombie Stilts
• Zeroes
• 18 September 2007.  That’s the release date for Superman: Doomsday (trailer), the animated adaptation of “The Death and Return of Superman,” from the early 1990s.  Given a couple of scenes in the trailer, I don’t know how – if at all – this is supposed to tie in with the rest of the DCAU; hopefully, that will be answered in time.
• And since I’m on the subject of Superman: How It Should Have Ended Comics: “Frustration“
• For , and : “I challenge you!”
• From Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper – First Look: Downey forges a bond with Iron Man role
• ::: INTERMISSION :::
• Who is Ronin?
• Derek: Do you know anything about Matt and Kim?
• Peter the Pirate Squid
• Fruit snacks!
• Gail Simone talks about Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey

And that’s a wrap… for now.

Namaste.